In typical material handling and warehouse management systems, containers of merchandise are manually loaded onto a filling cart or other similar device and then manually unloaded from the cart to a conveyor. The filling cart is then reloaded and the process repeated. This system of manually unloading the filling carts required the use of an operator. The operator would have to manually push the cart full of merchandise containers to the conveyor system, unload each article from the cart and place it on the conveyors, and then return the cart to the loading station. This use of an operator to manually unload the merchandise containers increases labor costs and decreases overall production efficiency.
Also, these types of systems can lead to worker stress and injuries. Laborers are required to push a cart filled with heavy merchandise containers, and lift each container off of a cart and place it on a conveyor. It is also anticipated that these injuries would increase with increased weights and volumes of the merchandise containers.
Given the amount of manual labor still required in many material and article handling operations, systems which automate handling and transfer of items are highly desireable, resulting in decreased worker stress and injuries, labor costs, and increased efficiencies.